Fear and lack of comprehension seem to be limiting how well brand executives can use the reams of consumer and market data flowing their way, according to a new study from analytics firm Calabrio.

In surveying 1,000 c-suite executives from the U.S. and the U.K., the firm saw that a large proportion of respondents relied on longstanding, easier-to-understand metrics to make business decisions. Respondents listed modern data techniques as being “too complicated” or lacking value as the primary reason for deferring to the tried-and-true.

When prioritizing data that drives decision-making, more executives chose revenue figures as the primary driver (36%). That was followed by social media data (20%), sales figures (16%), team feedback (15%) and contact centre data (12%).

More than one-third (39%) said they relied “too heavily” on a single data point to make decisions, with revenue numbers and social media data topping that list. When looking at CMO responses, that number jumped to 63% of respondents.

Of the reasons keeping execs from diving deeper into more complex analytics, 24% said they found the endeavor “too complicated,” and 20% said “there are too many sources.”

As startups and tech vendors promote AI and machine learning as a means of driving future sales, data has been identified as a main building block in developing such tools. Steve Irvine, founder and CEO of Integrate.AI, recently called company-owned data the “low-hanging fruit” that businesses should develop to ready themselves for technical disruption.